What's old is new

I have had a certain nursery project on my to-do list for months.  It was a special project because it meant a lot to my husband.  When Daniel was little, his family's house caught on fire and they lost almost everything they owned.  For this reason we have pretty much nothing that was his when he was growing up.

A few months ago we were at his parents and his mom mentioned that she had a rocking chair that had belonged to him.  When she asked if we wanted it, I did not even hesitate.  We brought it home and it has been sitting in our spare room ever since.

Where we started

Now I am not the craftiest person, but I have been getting better thanks to Pinterest.  The rocking chair was a little worn and the finish didn't really go with my vision for the nursery.  Thanks to my deep love for Pinterest, I was feeling empowered and decided that I could easily sand and paint the chair to match our nursery decor.

After a coat of spray paint (Don't worry, I wore a mask)

After months of avoiding the project, it was finally completed this weekend.  I have to say that I am very proud of myself.  I think it turned out perfectly and Baby Brown has little something of his dad's in his room which I know means a lot to Daniel.

The finished product (and a sneak peek of the nursery)

A belated Christmas craft (#27)

I started this project two months ago but you cannot rush greatness. I saw this idea on Pinterest, shocker I know, and I thought that it was the perfect way to make a keepsake out of all the Christmas cards we get. I always feel awful throwing away Christmas cards because I know how much money people spend on them. This is a perfect and super easy solution.

Begin by punching two holes in all of the cards. I did horizontal cards first and then the vertical cards, but it doesn't really matter. I am super OCD but even I didn't get too crazy about punching the holes symmetrically. Honestly, you can't really tell if they are perfectly straight so calm down.



After you get holes punched in all of your cards, stack them so that the holes line up. I didn't place my cards in any real order but you can. You could do family and then friends. You could even do favorite to least favorite friends but I guess that wouldn't be keeping with the holiday spirit.

So after you've finished ranking your friends, place a binder ring through each hole. It is seriously that easy. I made a cover for our little book with the year on it and then laminated it so it wouldn't tear. The plan is to the set the books out every year at the holidays. This is such a fun way to look back on how your friends and family have changed over the years and save some trees in the process.


The finished product


Ta da!